Kickstarter a new avenue for green energy project funding?

gigaOM’s Katie Fehrenbacher reports that a project designed to create a machine for making microsoloar panels successfully raised over $77,000 through Kickstarter.

The duo’s idea is to make a modular machine that people can use to make microsolar panels — the kind used for cell phone chargers — because a big chunk of the cost of making microsolar panels is in the factory assembly of them.

This project is extremely interesting, allowing people to build and install solar panels on all kinds of small electronics like phones, radios, and toys. The makers were even featured in a video by NPR’s Science Friday! How cool is that?